Horrible Horrible Crying

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

So, my day started out great! I am on vacation and one of the first things I did was call and pay off the only debt that I had in collections. I have been paying on it for months now and it felt great to finally get that out of the way! Then we went to the movies and I was able to avoid the concession stand and at lunch I went with one of the lower calorie options. I was proud of myself :)

Then when we came home my phone was ringing. I didn't recognize the number and I answered the call... collection agency. They said that I owed Charter over two hundred dollars! I told this man that he couldn't be telling the truth, I have charter right now and I pay my bill on time every month. I wouldn't give him any of my information because I swore it was some sort of scam.

I did have charter at another address about two years ago. That house burned down, I didn't have insurance and I lost everything. When I was setting up cable in this house they said I had an outstanding bill for the cable box that I didn't return. I explained about the house fire and I was told to bring a report from the fire station to the charter office and they would take care of it. I went to the fire station and they gave me the report, which I took to the charter office where the lady so rudely informed me that they do not do that. When I came home I called the charter 800 number again and the man apologized and said he would take the charge off of my bill and allow me to set up service.

I called Charter after I hung up with the collection agency just to confirm that it was a scam of some sort. Apparently that nice man did not make any such notes in the computer and he set me up with an entirely new account, not linked in any way to my old account. I did not know this entire time that I owed that money still! They sent bills to the house that burned down, but not to the new address where I currently have service with them.

Now, not only do I have another bill in collections, but it is over a hundred dollars more than what I originally owed! Not to mention that I was so rude to the collections agency telling them that it was not possible and that they were trying to scam me! I felt so incredibly angry, upset, stupid... and the charter company made me feel like a liar. Just because they don't have any notes in the system doesn't mean I am a liar! It just means that someone on their end screwed up. They don't allow anyone with an outstanding balance to connect new service, but I was able to get new service. I used the same social, the same name, the same phone number.... obviously there was some mistake on their part.

I probably wouldn't have been so upset if I had known about this bill, or if I hadn't just finished paying the other bill on the same day that I found out about this one! It really isn't a HUGE deal and I will call them back tomorrow and tell them that I am soooo sorry I was so rude to them and then set up a payment plan.

I just feel like I will never get out from underneath the darn ashes of that old house. If only I had renters insurance! It's horrible to lose every single thing you have ever owned and then still owe money for things years later.

The good news is: Even though my emotions had control of me, I didn't do any emotional eating. I still ate my normal dinner and nothing extra. I thought about just not running in the morning, but I am still going to wake up early and run. Things from the past are always going to come up unexpectedly and I have no control over that. The only thing I can control is how I let that affect me! I cried uncontrollably in front of my boyfriend and my children, for a long time! I couldn't get a grip! That is okay though, I finally just stopped and thought about it. How horrible is a bill that is less than 300 dollars? It is do-able, especially since I don't have the other one anymore. How horrible is it that I was rude to the man that was trying to get me to pay the bill? It is fixable, I know how to say that I am sorry and move on. Worse things could happen... Worse things HAVE happened to me in the past and I am still here today with a happy healthy family :)

Sorry for venting to you, if anyone is even reading this! It was very upsetting to say the least!

If you still have the report from the fire department, try that again. If you don't still have it, try to get another one. Explain the entire situation - to Charter, not to the collection agency. You should not have to pay for that box.

This irritates me beyond belief. House fires are terrible enough without these kinds of corporate shenanigans.

I don't know what kind of company this charter is? But if it is a charge card company, then you need to research on line for companies that will help you lower your credit amount. Otherwise it's a vicious circle that is hard to get out of. Call the county where you live to see if they can help you in some way? You might have been billed for months where you couldn't have used them, cause of the fire! And see if they charged you for setting up a new service? When you did not! If you've been with them already maybe they can exclude that fee! If there is a penalty fee added because of late charges, you should also mention that you forgot to make a change of address, and can that be adjusted! If you are a person that has tried to pay their bills maybe they will meet you in the middle! Please don't respond back to me, cause I am going in for surgery, good luck.